Chilly Celebrations

Sera's Snowman Cake (not sure why I decided to set his hands on fire . . . )

Birthday Girl!

Emerson's Big Day (his "pizza" cake)

Pizza Party!

Happy Birthday, Emerson!

Theo's elecronic kit (he bought it himself and loves it)

Lots of indoor activities this month!

The girls in their Christmas dresses (finally)

The Conservatory where I teach music classes (the kids call it my "castle")

It's really cold in the winter here, but isn't it beautiful?

Jumping Into January

Even though January is usually a busy month, it's one of my favorites. For one thing I get to celebrate the births of two of my very favorite people, and for another, it's a time for fresh starts. I love fresh starts! And I need them, since without them I would probably spiral into a big fat puddle of laziness. We started the year with a new theme. You can probably guess it. No, no, really. You probably can. I'll give you a couple of minutes.

So, if you guessed that we would somehow try to rip off Barack Obama, you're right! "YES WE CAN!" In fairness, he totally ripped off Bob the Builder anyway, so we don't feel that bad about it. We made some goals and hung glittery pictures of tools in our hallway. Then we went to work finishing up the service project that we started during the holiday season. With a little extra publicity, we helped the kids collect almost two hundred children's books to donate to some kids here in the city who don't have any/many books of their own. When we drove to the school to drop them off, the kids were grinning from ear to ear. It was contagious or something, because so was I! It was great to be able to share something we love so much with others. We can't wait to do it again.

Next up was Sera's second birthday. How is it even possible that our little star has gotten so big? She loved her snowman birthday cake, even though his hands were burning candles (I'm not entirely sure where I came up with that idea). Since I once made a snowman cake for Emerson, I wanted to make Sera’s a little different. So instead of a flat snowman laying on a big plate, Sera’s little guy stood right up (and nearly toppled over, but that’s another story). She’s so enamored of snow-people, that I just couldn’t not make her a snowman cake! She got a touch ‘n feel book and another super-soft blanket with satin trim (she loves them so much!) as presents, and couldn’t be more thrilled. There’s nothing this girl loves more than testing out different textures with her fingers . . . I mean, other than dancing naked on the kitchen table, of course.

Since there are only ten days between Sera’s and Emerson’s birthdays, we combined trips and took everyone to Denny’s on the Saturday in between. Even though I hate to rob either of them of being “the special one,” there’s only so much Denny’s my body will put up with, no matter how many free kids’ meals are involved. It’s crazy what a hit “alien pancakes” can be.

Emerson’s birthday theme this year was “pizza.” I know, I know, it sounds like we talked him into “just a little pizza party” or something, but this was totally his own deal. He really, really wanted a pizza party. So we made him a big “pizza” cake for his birthday and threw a “pizza party” for his friends. The kids played with play-doh, enjoyed a couple of pizza-themed games, had cup-cakes and opened presents. It was possibly the easiest party ever, and it was actually lots of fun. Maybe simplicity really is the key?

Well, now that you have the good bits, I’ll spill the other stuff too. It’s been cold here this winter. Sure there was a week where the temperature hovered around 30 degrees for a few days. It might even have broken freezing a time or two. But other than that, the cold has been so biting that we’ve seriously curtailed some of our outings. Some things, of course, are not optional, like play-group and library visits. Others, like grocery shopping, are the very definition of expendable. Through December and January we plowed through lots of the food in our storage room and freezer, making grocery store stops only for milk and eggs (carrying in the groceries is worse than the actual shopping). As a result, during that slightly warmer week I mentioned, we had a grocery bill that topped $250—yikes! On the plus side, Aaron used the cold weather to work on his dissertation—he’s been slaving away on it during every spare moment, and it’s nearly done!

Seraphina, age 2

(I didn't mean for these to come out in verse, it just happened . . . laugh if you must)

My fiery little angel, with just a strain of imp.

She climbs, she grins, she jabbers.

She does a hippy-shake.

She jumps from way up high--she's always sure I'll catch her.

Buries her nose in my neck and waits for me to lecture.

Toys in the toilet, frosting in the hair,

snuggling with her blanket, sucking on her hand.

Finger in her puggish nose, smile stretched wide beneath.

"Should I?" she coyly questions--

the hand's already in the cookie jar, but hey, it can't hurt to ask.

"Terrible twos," I've heard it before,

but for me, "two" whirls by too fast.

I bask in the wet kisses, the fat arms around my leg.

The trails of dumped-out flour and sticky fingerprints on the wall--

they'll all be gone in a sigh and a double blink.

Emerson, age 4

A shaken up soda-bottle, full of fun;
of spunk, of funk, and sun, sun, sun.

Shining eyes and toothy grin,
in the game to play, not lose or win.

Fingers in the frosting, tongue on the spoon,
he nibbles on crackers and giggles like a loon.

Four years old this wise little guy,
snuggles me, tuggles me, hugs me dry.

I'd eat him like candy if I only could--
fly him to the moon and tickle him good.

On this special day when he turns four,
You might catch me wishing I had one more
(but don't count on it).